SAN FRANCISCO — As many times as he gets asked, Cardinals closer Jason Motte still has no perfect answer for how St. Louis found a way to win at Washington after trailing 6-0 and get back to the NL championship series.

“These guys just prove what big hearts they have and how much they go out there and work their butts off,” said Motte, Friday night’s winning pitcher. “Someone asked me last night how we keep doing it, and I said, ‘I don’t know, maybe we’re just stubborn. We just don’t give up.’ That’s kind of how you have to be.”

Verlander struck out 11 in a four-hitter, pitching Detroit into a second straight AL championship series a day after Jose Valverde failed to hold a ninth-inning lead with a 6-0 win against the Oakland Athletics in the decisive Game 5 of their division series Thursday night.

Verlander tossed his first career postseason shutout and complete game with a 122-pitch masterpiece.

OAKLAND, Calif. — These Oakland Athletics never count themselves out — down and doubted is their dogma.

Brett Anderson outdueled fellow postseason first-timer Anibal Sanchez and the upstart A’s were stellar on defense all over the diamond, avoiding another playoff sweep by Detroit by beating the Tigers 2-0 Tuesday night in their AL division series.

SAN FRANCISCO — In a perfect playoff world, Stephen Strasburg might be on the mound in the nation’s capital, Mariano Rivera closing it out in the Bronx and Melky Cabrera delivering a timely hit by the bay.

Bartolo Colon would be starting for Oakland, Ryan Madson pitching the ninth in Cincinnati.

Call this the depleted postseason. American League, National League, the division winners and the wild cards, almost every club headed to the playoffs has dealt with a devastating loss of some sort.

SAN FRANCISCO — Lawrence Tynes booted the Giants into the Super Bowl again.

Tynes kicked a winning 31-yard field goal in sudden-death overtime and New York beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC championship game Sunday night to reach its second Super Bowl in five seasons.

Eli Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, just as they did when they won it in 2008.